Queer and Trans Inclusive Housing and All Gender Restrooms

At Roger Williams, we are constantly working to ensure that our queer and trans students are provided safe and equitable living and learning experiences.

Queer and Trans students at RWU have several options to find inclusive housing:

The QTRAC has partnered with Residence Life to make the roommate matching process more queer-friendly across campus. Students are now able to state their sexuality and/or gender identity (this is entirely optional and dependent on the comfortability of each individual student) in their roommate profile. Students can also indicate if they are comfortable living with someone of any sexuality and/or gender identity. Students who take advantage of these features will then be able to self-select roommates who have self-identified as LGBTQIA+ and/or as an Ally. We hope that these features allow Queer & Trans students to enter into their housing assignments with more confidence about their safety and acceptance. 

The Queer & Trans LLC community serves students who identify anywhere within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, trans, transgender, non-binary, and gender non-confirming communities. This living area is located in Maple Hall for first-year students and North Residence Hall for returning students.  In partnership with the Queer and Trans Resource and Advocacy Center (QTRAC), this community allows for our queer and trans communities to build a strong network of support while they adjust to life at Roger. This community also creates a safe space for our queer and trans students to celebrate their shared identities. Students living in both the first and returning year areas work together and create a peer-mentorship relationship while engaging in the Roger and Rhode Island communities.

The application for all Living Learning Communities is available through your Housing Self-Service Portal. If you do not see the application under Forms & Applications, please email rwuhousing@qiju123.com.

For more information, contact us at diversity@qiju123.com

Gender Inclusive Housing is defined as a housing option in which two or more students mutually agree to share a multiple-occupancy bedroom, suite, or apartment regardless of students’ assigned sex or gender identity. By offering gender-inclusive housing, residential students will be given a choice similar to those afforded in off-campus housing options.  By removing assigned sex and gender identity as determining factors in the housing process for some students, a broader experience of cohabitation can be fostered in an educational and safe environment.  Roommate situations based on assigned sex at birth can often cause distress for members of the transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or intersex communities. Gender-neutral or gender-inclusive housing can be beneficial for all students in the process of discovering and developing their identities.

Gender Inclusive Housing is available in all halls (except Stonewall) for first years, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. For first-year students, the selection is based on indicating interest in your housing application. Selection for sophomores, juniors, and seniors is initiated by students completing a Gender Inclusive Housing Application and Agreement and forming a gender-inclusive group during Roommate Matching and Group Formation. All intended roommates need to complete this agreement.

There is no specific number, or limit, of gender-inclusive rooms on campus. However, gender-inclusive housing will be offered in a variety of accommodations throughout University housing; except in areas that are exclusively first-year living areas, and/or designated as single-assigned sex.

Applications/Agreements can be accessed via Housing Self-Service during the Housing Selection Process. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Residence Life office via email (rwuhousing@qiju123.com) or phone (401-254-3161). 

All-Gender Restrooms

In addition to inclusive housing, RWU is striving to make bathroom access as inclusive as possible by having numerous All-Gender restrooms on campus. Campus map of All-Gender restrooms.